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Third-person shooter
Third-person shooter (TPS) is a subgenre of 3D shooter games in which the player character is visible on-screen during gaming, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting. Definition A third-person shooter is a game structured around shooting,Nate Garrelts, The Meaning and Culture of Grand Theft Auto: critical essays (McFarland, 2006), 159. and in which the player can see the avatar on-screen in a third-person view.Anne-Marie Schleiner, "Does Lara Croft Wear Fake Polygons? Gender and Gender-Role Subversion in Computer Adventure Games" Leonardo Journal, Vol. 34, No. 3 (2001): 222. Third-person shooter is a game where instead of seeing the games through the main character's eyes, you see the main character moving and shooting in the game and the game is specifically focused on shooting. Design It is a 3D genre, that has grown to prominence in recent years, especially on consoles. It combines the shooting elements of the first-person shooter with the jumping and climbing elements of puzzle-based games and brawlers. Third-person shooter games almost always incorporate an aim-assist feature, since aiming from a third-person camera is difficult. Most also have a first-person view, which allows precise shooting and looking around at environment features that are otherwise hidden from the default camera. In most cases, the player must stand still to use first-person view, but newer titles allow the player to play like a FPS; for example, Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath requires the player to shoot from first person, only allowing melee attacks in the chase camera views. Relationship to first-person shooters These games are closely related to first-person shooters, which also tie the perspective of the player to an avatar, but the two genres are distinct.Geddes, Ryan, Beyond Gears of War 2, IGN, Sept 30, 2008, Accessed Apr 2, 2009 While the first-person perspective allows players to aim and shoot without their avatar blocking their view, the third-person shooter shows the protagonist from an "over the shoulder shot" or "behind the back" perspective.Blache, Fabian & Fielder, Lauren, History of Tomb Raider , GameSpot, Accessed Apr 1, 2009 Thus, the third-person perspective allows the game designer to create a more strongly characterized avatar and directs the player's attention as in watching a film. In contrast, a first-person perspective provides the player with greater immersion into the game universe.Hutcheon, Linda, A Theory of Adaptation (CRC Press, 2006), pp. 55-56 This difference in perspective also affects gameplay. Third-person shooters allow players to see the area surrounding the avatar more clearly. This viewpoint facilitates more interaction between the character and their surrounding environment, such as the use of tactical cover in Gears of War, or navigating tight quarters. As such, the third-person perspective is better for interacting with objects in the game world, such as jumping on platforms, engaging in close combat, or driving a vehicle. However, the third-person perspective can interfere with tasks that require fine aiming. Third-person shooters sometimes compensate for their distinct perspective by designing larger, more spacious environments than first-person shooters.Määttä, Aki, GDC 2002: Realistic Level Design in Max Payne, GamaSutra, May 8, 2002, Accessed Apr 6, 2009 The boundaries between third-person and first-person shooters are not always clear. For example, many third-person shooters allow the player to use a first-person viewpoint for challenges that require precise aiming. The first-person shooter Halo: Combat Evolved was actually designed as a third-person shooter, but added a first-person perspective to improve the interface for aiming and shooting. The game switches to a third-person viewpoint when the avatar is piloting a vehicle, and this combination of first-person for aiming and third-person for driving has since been used in other games. Metroid Prime is another first-person shooter that switches to a third-person perspective when rolling around the environment using the morph ball. Alexander R. Galloway writes that the "real-time, over-the-shoulder tracking shots of Gus Van Sant's Elephant evoke third-person shooter games like Max Payne, a close cousin of the FPS".Alexander R. Galloway. Gaming: essays on algorithmic culture (U of Minnesota Press, 2006), 60. History '' features third-person combat with several types of firearms. Total kills are visible on the top right of the screen, as are enemies on a radar screen on the bottom right. ]] 2D third-person shooters have existed since the earliest days of video games, dating back to Spacewar! (1962); third-person perspective shooting is also featured in its clones, Galaxy Game (1971) and Computer Space (1971). Arcade shooters with a 3D third-person perspective include Nintendo's Radar Scope (1979), Atari's Tempest (1981), Nihon Bussan's Tube Panic (1983), Sega's Space Harrier (1985), Atari's Xybots (1987), and Square's 3-D WorldRunner (1987). and JJ (1987) Third-person shooters for home computers include Dan Gorlin's Airheart (1986) and Paul Norman's Beyond Forbidden Forest (1986). Konami's run & gun shooter Contra (1987) featured several third-person shooter levels where the player trudges through indoor enemy bases.Game of The Week: Contra, GameSpy Konami's Devastators (1988)Kurt Kalata, Konami Run 'n Guns, Hardcore Gaming 101 is a third-person shooter where, rather than moving forward automatically, the player walks forward by holding the Up direction, as the background slowly scales toward the screen. Devastators also featured various obstacles that could be used to take cover from enemy fire, as well as two-player cooperative gameplay. A similar shooter released that same year was Cabal (1988), which inspired many of its own "Cabal clones," such as NAM-1975 (1990) and Wild Guns (1994). Kurt Kalata of Hardcore Gaming 101 cites Sega's Last Survivor (1988), released for arcades and then ported to the FM Towns and FM Towns Marty, featuring eight-player deathmatch. He notes that it has a perspective and split-screen similar to Xybots, but with entirely different gameplay and controls. In 1993, Namco released a two-player competitive 3D third-person shooter vehicle combat game, Cyber Sled. A year later, Elite Systems Ltd. released Virtuoso on the 3DO. This was an early example of a home console third-person shooter which featured a human protagonist on-foot, as opposed to controlling a vehicle, and made use of polygonal 3D graphics along with sprites in a 3D environment. Fade to Black (1995) was also a fully 3D third-person shooter released around this time, but as well as featuring an on-foot protagonist rather than a vehicle, utilised entirely polygonal 3D graphics. Tomb Raider (1996) by Eidos Interactive (now Square Enix Europe) is claimed by some commentators as a third-person shooter,Jonathan S. Harbour, Microsoft Visual Basic game programming with DirectX 2002Peter Cohen, "Bring out the big guns.(The Game Room)", MacWorld, Sept 1 2003Dickey, Christopher ; Scanlan, Marc ; Lee, B. J. "Let the Games Begin.(World Cyber Games 2001)", Newsweek International, Dec 24 2001 and Jonathan S. Harbour of the University of Advancing Technology argues that it's "largely responsible for the popularity of this genre". Other commentators have considered it influential on later third person shooters such as BloodRayne (2002), The Contra Adventure (1998),Bobba Fatt, The Contra Adventure, GamePro, Jan 09, 2004, Accessed Aug 4, 2009 MDK (1997), Duke Nukem: Time To Kill (1998), Burning Rangers (1998), and Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K. 2 (2000). The game eschewed the popular first person perspective of games such as Doom, instead making use of "third person" viewpoints, wide 3D environments and a control system inspired by Prince of Persia. Mega Man Legends (1997) by Capcom is another early 3D third person shooter which took a different approach to the genre, mixing this with a role-playing game influence. Around the same time, Deathtrap Dungeon (1998) by Eidos Interactive and MediEvil (1998) by SCE Cambridge Studio (then Millennium Interactive) were some of the first 3D games in the genre to include third person shooter influences in a fantasy setting, with fictional or alternative weapons achieving the same effect as a gun for the player. Die Hard Trilogy (1998) by Fox Interactive was met with critical acclaim at the time of its release, and the section of the game based around the first Die Hard film in the trilogy was another early take on a 3D third person shooter. Syphon Filter (1999) by Eidetic (now SCE Bend Studio) combined the perspective of Tomb Raider with action elements of games such as GoldenEye 007 (1997) and Metal Gear Solid (1998).Gerstmann, Jeff, Syphon Filter Review, GameSpot, Feb 12, 1999, Accessed Apr 1, 2009 Richard Rouse III wrote in GamaSutra that the game was the most popular third person shooter for the PlayStation.Rouse, Richard, Postmortem: The Game Design of Surreal's The Suffering, GamaSutra, June 9, 2004, Accessed Apr 1, 2009 The Nintendo 64 version of Army Men: Sarge's Heroes by The 3DO Company was released the same year as Syphon Filter, and is an early example of a popular third person shooter which introduced the player being allowed to control aiming of their weapon themselves by means of two control sticks. In Tomb Raider and Syphon Filter, on the other hand, the protagonists automatically aimed at antagonists. Forcing or allowing the player to control aiming themselves, either using control sticks or a mouse, would go on to become commonplace in later games in the genre, such as Oni (2001), Max Payne (2001) and SOCOM (2002). Max Payne (2001) was acclaimed as a superlative third person shooter, inspired by Hong Kong action cinema.Kasavin, Greg, Max Payne Review , GameSpot, Dec 11, 2001, Accessed Apr 2, 2009 Several platform games with third-person shooter elements were also released during that time; examples included Ratchet & Clank and most of the games in the Jak and Daxter series, both of which were designed for younger audiences than most third-person shooters. Resident Evil 4 (2005) was influential in helping to redefine the third-person shooter genre, with its use of "over the shoulder" offset camera angles, where the camera is placed directly over the right shoulder and therefore doesn't obscure the action.Dobson, Jason, Post-GDC: Cliff Bleszinski Says Iteration Won Gears of War, Gamasutra, Mar 12, 2007, Accessed Apr 2, 2009 An important gameplay mechanic that helped revolutionize third-person shooters in the past decade was the cover system. Koei's WinBack (1999)Brian Ashcraft, How Cover Shaped Gaming's Last Decade, Kotaku has a cover system. Kill Switch (2003) features the cover system as its core game mechanic,Why Vanquish will make Gears Of War obsolete, Play along with a blind fire mechanic. Gears of War (2006) employed tactical elements such as taking cover,Marc Saltzman, "Microsoft turns out gorgeous, gory shooter with 'Gears of War'," USA Today (11/30/2006). influenced by Kill Switch, using off-center viewpoints inspired by Resident Evil 4. The game also employed grittier themes than other titles and used a unique feature which rewarded the player for correctly reloading weapons.Adams, Ernest, The Designer's Notebook: Ten Years Of Great Games, GamaSutra, Nov 26, 2007, Accessed Apr 6, 2009 Gears of War, as well as games such as Army of Two (2008), place a greater emphasis on two player cooperative play,Ocampo, Jason, Lock and Load: Upcoming Military Shooters of 2007, GameSpot, Aug 4, 2007, Accessed Apr 1, 2009 as does Resident Evil 5 (2009).Faylor, Chris & Breckon, Nick, Resident Evil 5 to Sport 2P Co-op, Cover System (May 22, 2008), Shacknews, Retrieved on May 22, 2008. As of 2009, the third-person shooter genre has a large audience outside Japan, particularly in North America.Nutt, Christian, That Tecmo Flavor: Kikuchi And Shibata On Surprising The Audience, GamaSutra, Jan 8, 2009, Accessed Apr 1, 2009 Vanquish (2010) by PlatinumGames featured a gameplay style reminiscent of bullet hell shooters, with bullets and missiles coming from all directions.Vanquish an intense sci-fi shooter, Toronto Sun See also *List of third-person shooters *Shooter game References Category:Video game genres Category:Third-person shooters Category:Video game terminology